Residents Evacuated as Hurricane Force Storm Rips Through the UK

Overturned trucks, uprooted trees, and torrential flooding are just some of the unfamiliar sights that greeted residents in the city of Manchester when unprecedented storms thrashed the UK. One estate was left in shambles when the fronts of three houses were ripped off and thrown across cars parked outside. An elderly couple trapped inside at the time narrowly escaped with their lives, and others are reeling as hurricane force winds have left a trail of destruction in parts of the country.

One local man managed to catch sight of one house after another was torn in half, The Guardian reports. “I heard a bang and went out and saw it fall down,” he told the paper. “It happened in two stages, first one house and then the others. It was dead loud. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, I’ve never seen anything like it before. One of the houses had only had new windows fitted a few hours earlier.”

Beyond Manchester, in the Yorkshire town of Saddleworth, the storm wreaked havoc on gardens that one man relies on for food. While much of Andrew Oldham’s fruits and vegetables were destroyed, he still managed to portray the scene with a touch of humor. “There were chickens all over the place as the run they were in had been blasted,” he told The Guardian. “They looked stunned and shocked…”

While it might not sound that severe for U.S. residents accustomed to tornados and hurricanes, it’s very rare that people in the UK have to deal with this kind of damage as the result of severe weather. In the latest storm’s wake, many residents are pulling together what is left of their lives – digging their cars out from under the debris, and repairing the damage done to their homes – while also keeping their fingers crossed that this is the last of the bad weather.